Minivan Review: 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle AWD

As it turns out, sensible living ain't that bad

Matthew Guy

Oct 22, 2021 • October 22, 2021 • 5 minute read • Join the conversation

Brush your teeth. Clean your room. Eat your spinach. These precious declarations, and many more like them, are at the root of more than one conversation in which the speaker is trying to get a reluctant listener to do a task that’s ultimately good for them.

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Oh yeah — there’s one more on the list: drive a minivan.

For reasons your author cannot comprehend, the modern minivan has become less cool than jorts and compression socks. After the great unwashed chose to run en masse into the waiting arms of SUVs and crossovers, these practical boxes on wheels developed a devastating image problem. Many brands abandoned the segment with haste, leaving the remaining players competing for larger slices of a smaller pie.

An unintended consequence of all this? The options which remain are the best of the bunch. Duking it out in a popular segment like the all-wheel drive compact crossover arena requires producing a rig which checks off a laundry list of ‘must-haves’ — decent looks, attractive price, popular features — but absolute excellence isn’t really required in order to sell a ton of the things. Contrast that to the minivan segment, an area in which some customers wilfully shop while others are dragged kicking and screaming. These days, if you’re hawking a minivan, it better be good.

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Fortunately, the 2021 Pacifica largely is. Behind its freshly tweaked nose, which underwent rhinoplasty for this model year, is a familiar 3.6L V6 engine making near-as-makes-no-difference 300 horsepower. A nine-speed automatic funnels traction to every corner, given this Pinnacle trim is endowed with all-wheel drive. Snow was in short supply during our summertime test drive but a deluge of rain proved this van’s surefootedness on rural roads which featured more tramlines than actual tram lines. It marks the first time since 2004 that all-wheel drive has been offered on a Chrysler minivan, and is now available across all non-hybrid models.

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It is appropriate to contrast this older-tech powertrain with the hybrid guts Toyota is now installing in every single Sienna minivan they make. Your author had the opportunity to drive that machine back-to-back with this one and can confidently claim that while the Toyota returned superb fuel economy, it’s molasses-in-winter acceleration was a bridge too far in terms of making sacrifices in the name of practicality. The Pacifica simply responds with naturally-aspirated horses when the driver asks for more guts, never feeling out of puff or underpowered.

We recorded an average fuel economy of 10.9 L/100 km in mixed driving conditions with highway fuel economy regularly dipping into the 8’s. While the Toyota did click off a 5.3 L/100 km performance during an hour’s highway run, it felt very anemic compared to the Pacifica; it’s a personal choice, but this author will gladly spend an extra $8 on the 200km round trip to Halifax in exchange for not having to endure a wheezy powertrain every day.

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In other words, I’ll eat my spinach but not the brussel sprouts.

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Another area in which the Pacifica has the Sienna handily beaten? In what some families call the Way Back (aka the third-row of seats), Chrysler has built a better mousetrap for permitting that bench to vanish into the van’s floor. In this model, the seat smartly folds like a taco then flips over entirely before sinking out of sight, meaning the bottom of the bench forms an extremely flat cargo floor. The Toyota takes a different approach, with the third-row seat back morphing into service as the cargo floor, leaving a lumpen storage area as if someone had installed a relief map of the Rocky Mountains. Chrysler invented the minivan fer chrissakes — and with details like this, it really shows.

The interior of this top-tier Pinnacle trim is sumptuous — as it should be given its price tag of $68,785. The choice of quilted-style Caramel leather looks impressive, as are the suede headliner and stitching along each seating surface. A pair of pillows are befuddlingly part of the Pinnacle package — making up for a lack of lumbar support in the second-row, perhaps — and are just waiting to get misplaced after about three months’ ownership in the hands of a chaotic family environment. To be certain, every single soul (adults included) who clambered aboard the Pacifica during its week-long visit immediately pummelled their seat mate with the pillow as if they were at summer camp. Front-row chairs are heated and cooled at this price point; second-row occupants make do with heat only.

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Chrysler reads from the Book of Honda in terms of the Pinnacle’s built-in vacuum cleaner, but while this concept may be copied, its execution is better. The nozzle is more centrally placed than in the Honda, permitting easy reach around the cabin, and the whole unit is neatly tucked away behind a door that looks like an old-school rolltop desk. The vacuum itself seems powerful enough to suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. Speaking of, be sure to spec the $895 Trailer Tow Group, a good spend of cash which adds equipment permitting this van to haul 3,600 pounds.

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In terms of infotainment, now an important part of successful family road trips, the Pacifica Pinnacle brings the goods. Its centre screen has grown to 10.1 inches and packs UConnect 5 which improves on an already head-of-class UX with faster processing speeds and better graphics. Parental units in the front-row can keep tabs on the grim news emanating from CBC Radio One, while kiddos in the back will enjoy dual touchscreens on which they can enjoy built-in games or their own separate playlists and theatre options. Mischievous imps can actually send a navigation request to the driver — say, to the nearest ice cream hut — which can then be programmed into the satnav with the tap of a button. Or, parents can press the big red IGNORE button, a move which is strangely satisfying. A so-called FamCam interior camera permits one to keep tabs on kidlets sleeping in rear-facing car seats.

For all its image problems, the modern minivan makes a lot of sense. It’s a commodious box on wheels packed with ample video screens, creative storage solutions, and — in the Pacifica Pinnacle — top-shelf upholstery and a handy vacuum cleaner. Getting customers over their initial distaste of the segment in general, however, will be a main challenge.

Spinach, indeed.